Pizza Today _ January 23 - 49

to know them. One time a group of young kids
came in. One told me it was his birthday the
following day, and wanted to know if he could
have a free slice of pizza. I said, how about a
whole pie for you and your friends? They came
the next day and enjoyed a whole pizza. I have
also provided pizza making kits to some of the
local schools. I hope to continue to work with the
schools and partner with them for pizza making
classes. A fun fact, the high school near my
pizzeria, East High has an INCREDIBLE culinary
arts program.
Pizza Now!
Albany, OR
Concept: Carryout & Delivery Only
Established: 2012
Owner/President: Chris Salmon
Website: Pizza-now.com
Social: facebook.com/pizzanowalbany
Gross Annual Sales
(July 1, 2021-June 30, 2022): $1,270,000
Gross Annual Sales
(July 1, 2020-June 30, 2021): $1,030,000
How has your company grown during
the past 12 months and what are your future
growth plans? We have reached that milliondollar
mark in both of our pizzerias. The one that
wen opened in 2012 reached that milestone in
2020. Our 2nd location reached it in 2021 after
opening in 2018. Our future growth plans would
be to open several more locations in Oregon.
Currently we are almost as busy as we possibly
can be in both stores while still providing excellent
service. Despite being a DELCO, our next
location will need a larger sized building so we
can scale up with our sales, and not be at the
point of bottlenecks with production and long
waits because we are at our limit, thus jeopardizing
our whole Pizza NOW! concept.
Southern Yankee Crafthouse
Houston, TX
Concept: Casual Dining - Established: 2021
Owner/President: Patrice Porter
Website: crafthousehtx.com/
Social: instagram.com/soyankcrafthouse
Gross Annual Sales
(July 1, 2021-June 30, 2022): $1,500,000
Gross Annual Sales
(July 1, 2020-June 30, 2021): $0
How has your company grown during
the past 12 months and what are your future
growth plans? In early August 2021, our brick
oven was getting installed at the Crafthouse.
Our company consisted of the original brewery
location team plus the Crafthouse general
manager, executive chef, and bar manager who
had been working with us for months - about ten
employees. When we opened the Crafthouse in
September 2021, we became a company with
40+ employees at two locations. As a result of
our team's success in delivering a quality experience,
Southern Yankee Crafthouse was voted
Best New Restaurant in the Houston Chronicle
Best of the Best 2022 Community Awards and a
Top 3 finalist for Best Bar, Date-Night Restaurant,
Patio, and Pet-Friendly Restaurant! (And
Southern Yankee Beer Company was a Top 3
finalist for Best Brewery!) Recently we were
nominated in Outsmart Magazine's Gayest
and Greatest Reader's Choice Awards 2022 in
several categories including: Best Brunch, Best
Lunch Spot, Best Pizza, Best New Restaurant,
Best Restaurant for Outdoor Dining, Friendliest
Restaurant Staff, Best Happy Hour, Best Cocktail,
and Favorite Place for Drinks on a First Date.
If things go well and the opportunity presents,
we think the Southern Yankee Crafthouse could
expand to other locations in the Houston area.
Time will tell.
Thunderbird Pies
Dallas, TX
Concept: Fast-casual Build-to-Order
Established: 2021
Owner/President: Jeff Amador
Website: thunderbirdpies.com
Social: instagram.com/thunderbirdpies
Gross Annual Sales (July 1, 2021-June 30,
2022): $1,006,929
Gross Annual Sales (July 1, 2020-June 30,
2021): 0
What is your pizzeria's brand and how
do you market your pizzeria? Thunderbird
Pies brought Detroit-style pizza to Dallas. We
started as a ghost kitchen during the COVID-19
pandemic in mid-2020, operating out of the
kitchen of one our sister restaurants, Zoli's Pizza
(Addison/Fort Worth, TX). The third pizza brand
from the PILF Restaurant Group (Cane Rosso,
Zoli's Pizza, Thunderbird Pies), and our third
style of pizza to tackle in our pizza restaurants.
Thunderbird's popularity quickly grew larger
than operating as a ghost kitchen could handle,
and we opened our first brick and mortar location
in East Dallas in August of 2021. We just
celebrated our first anniversary at our casual,
counter-service pizza joint, known for our twists
on the " standard " pizza offerings. Choose from
classics like plain cheese or pepperoni, or go
for it with signature pies like the Honey Bastard
(Wisconsin brick cheese, hot soppressata, bacon
marmalade, and habanero honey). Also offering
a beloved " Thunderburger, " appetizers, salads,
and more.
Walters303 Pizzeria
& Publik House
Denver, CO
Concept: Casual Dining
Established: 2010
Owner/President: Stacy Turk
Website: walters303.com
Social: instagram.com/walters303uptown/
Gross Annual Sales
(July 1, 2021-June 30, 2022): $2,856,684
Gross Annual Sales
(July 1, 2020-June 30, 2021): $1,828,512
How has your company grown during the
past 12 months and what are your future
growth plans? During Covid when most of
the restaurants closed around us we stayed
open. We wanted to maintain some kind of
normal in a scary time in the world. We would
sometimes see the same customers several times
a day. It was comforting to see familiar faces.
Fortunately we were able to maintain most all of
our employees, and the ones we couldn't keep
we offered meals to those in need. (They have
been hired back and are still here working).
We started doing pizza breakfast burritos in the
morning, selling plants and trying creative ways
to keep the serving staff afloat.
Wooden Paddle
Lemont, IL
Concept: Casual Dining - Established: 2013
Owner/President: Brianna Cowan
Website: woodenpaddle.com
Social: instagram.com/woodenpaddle/
Gross Annual Sales (July 1, 2021-June 30,
2022): $1,987,847
Gross Annual Sales (July 1, 2020-June 30,
2021): $1,383,837
Why is your pizzeria a great place to
work? We pay over industry average in our
area. We go as far as paying every server the
true minimum wage of $12 per hour instead
of the tipped minimum wage. We offer PPO
health insurance through Blue Cross, company
retirement plan, vision insurance and dental
insurance.
How has your company grown during the
past 12 months and what are your future
growth plans? In the past 12 months we
have been building up the people side of our
business. Angela Terrafino runs our restaurant
operations and we have recently hired on Joelle
Beranek to take over our off site event operations.
We started running our business on the
Entrepreneurial Operating System based off of
Gino Wickman's book Traction. We now have a
solid leadership team in place and are figuring
out all of the company issues at a rapid pace.
We will be opening a new location in March or
April of 2023.
JANUARY 2023 / PIZZATODAY.COM / 49
http://www.walters303.com http://www.instagram.com/walters303uptown/ http://www.Pizza-now.com http://www.facebook.com/pizzanowalbany http://www.thunderbirdpies.com http://www.instagram.com/thunderbirdpies http://www.woodenpaddle.com http://www.instagram.com/woodenpaddle/ http://www.crafthousehtx.com/ http://www.instagram.com/soyankcrafthouse http://www.PIZZATODAY.COM
Pizza Today _ January 23

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